John McCarthy
Computer Scientist & Father of AI
About
John McCarthy (1927–2011) was an American computer scientist who coined the term 'artificial intelligence' in 1955 and organized the seminal 1956 Dartmouth Conference that launched AI as a field. He invented LISP, the second-oldest high-level programming language still in use, which became the dominant language for AI research. A professor at Stanford for decades, he made foundational contributions to time-sharing systems, formal verification, and commonsense reasoning in AI. His vision of machines that could reason and learn shaped the entire trajectory of AI research.
Key Contributions
- Coined the term 'artificial intelligence'
- Organized the 1956 Dartmouth Conference that founded AI
- Invented LISP programming language
- Pioneered time-sharing computer systems
- Developed situation calculus for AI reasoning
